The choices before Nintendo are not easy, and are damaging regardless of the path selected. Heavily and entirely supporting two circle pads might sway some developers, but Nintendo's most loyal fans will certainly feel burned. Plus more casual gamers will likely be confused by the messaging. Didn't they just buy Nintendo's new system? Now they have to buy another one?

The alternative is, of course, going the route of Wii Motion Plus, which is to say watch a necessary add-on dwindle in support and consumer interest. Who wants to support or require the use of something that only some can play? Why not make a product for everyone? It will truly be interesting to see how The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword sells, particularly considering it can only be played using only Motion Plus, and only the limited edition actually supplies that necessary hardware.

Technically Monster Hunter doesn't need two sliders....

A less-than-optimal scenario is to attempt to straddle both paths. Release the circle pad expansion alongside a major game like Monster Hunter, but commit only to that game – for the time being. Then add in the feature to a new version of the 3DS, and market the system as if the success and feedback from the debut of Monster Hunter caused this change. That still begs the question of influencing developmental efforts, and that's something Nintendo will likely have to fund itself with cold hard cash and marketing support.

Systems take time to develop and it's a bit stunning that Nintendo didn't have the foresight to include a second circle pad with the 3DS. The proximity of the two products makes it almost impossible to believe the publisher wasn't aware that its system was missing a critical feature. Consoles have featured two analog sticks for a decade. The notion that a portable powerful enough to support ports of these 10-year-old games wouldn't feature an equivalent control scheme is a bit astonishing. Truly, if Nintendo rushed the 3DS out the door without pausing to consider the repercussions of its choices, it is potentially about to pay the price in perception and possibly developmental support. In some ways it already has.

But it'll be better with them.

It's not that the Nintendo 3DS is necessarily doomed without a second analog stick. Had Nintendo never mentioned the idea, it could have likely made do. Some games developers would have probably passed the system by in favor of the Vita, but even Monster Hunter survived without two analog inputs – look at the PSP versions. But Nintendo decided to open that door. It has now openly suggested its launch hardware design is flawed. It's introducing an awkward patch to a portable design that is clearly inadequate in its own eyes.

Whether the company even wanted to launch a 3DS Lite in 2012, it almost certainly must now, if for no other reason than to get the 3DS looking like a polished product that isn't being cobbled together bit by bit. Let's just hope that if a timetable is being accelerated, no other important features are left on the drawing room table.